Electric cloth-cutting machine.



E. M. WARING. ELEG'PRIC CLOTH CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1910.

Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

EDWARD M. WARING, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC CLOTH-CUTTING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 18, 1913.

Application filed April 12, 1910. Serial No. 555,002.

To all whom it may concern a Be it known that I, EDWARD M. WARING, acitizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Brooklyn,Kings county, New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Electric Cloth-(gutting Machines, of which the followlng1s a specification. I

This invention relates to electrically operated cloth cutting machineshaving a reciprocating knife.

More particularly it relates to improve-' ments in the knife guard andthe sharpening means for the knife, also to improvements in the bearingsfor the armature shaft of the motor and the manner in which the knife isoperated from said motor, and to other novel structural features. I

The objects of the invention and the means provided for attaining thesame is fully set forth in the following specification while referenceis had to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is an elevation ofa cutting machine embodying my invention with parts omitted for the sakeof clearness. Fig. 2 is a front view of the machine with parts insection. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view of the knife guard on line 33of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detail view of theguard hinge. Fig. 5 is a detailview of parts of the sharpening means, and Fig 6 is a-detail viewshowing the manner of pivoting the arm carrying the sharpening wheels.

In the drawings the reference numeral 7 represents the base of themachine from which rises a column 8 supporting the motor and itsassociated parts, 9 is the knife guided in the column 8 in the usualmanner and 10 is the motor constructed in an suitable manner.

11 is the armature shaft and 12 and 13 de- I note end disks on saidarmature.

The motor. and its associated parts are protected by two end casings 14and 15. Each of these casings supports a ball hearing for the armatureshaft 11. This latter is at each end provided with a grooved disk 16.The casings are each provided with a greatly assist in the smooth andnoiseless upward into the running of the machine. Adjacent the aforesaiddisk 13 there is keyed to the shaft an eccentric 20 and tocounterbalance this eccentric a weight 21 is keyed and clamped to theshaft 11 diametrically opposite'the eccentric. The weight is providedwith inclined surfaces 22 serving as fan blades to cool the motor duringthe operation thereof. The eccentric-20 carries a strap 23 and betweenthese two elements there is interposed a ball bearing comprising theinner race 24,

the balls and the. outer race 26.

The knife is secured to a. crosshead 27 reciprocated in guides as isusual and operated from the eccentric by a pitman 28, the

upper end of which is pivoted at'29 to the strap, while the lower .endof the pitman is pivoted at 30 to the crosshead." By means of thisconstruction compensation for wear on the crosshead and adjacent arts isprovided, also for slight inaccuracies in the assembling of these parts.It will be noted that the axis of the pivot 29 is at right angles to theaxis of the shaft 11, while the axis of the pivot 30 is parallelthereto. Hence the lower end of the pitman may be adjusted to run trueunder the strap 23 without disturbing the latter. I also find, that byinterposing the ball bearing between the strap and the eccentric thewear and tear on the machine is less and the knife operates with greatease.

The improved knife guard comprises an upper and a lowerstem 31 and 32hinged together at 33. Each of the said stems carries a foot 34comprising rearwardly extending lips 35 enveloping the knife and aforwardly extending finger 36. Each foot is cut away as at 37 to permitthe operator to observe the chalk marks or lines on the material. Thiswill be clear from Fig. 3 in which such a line is indicated at 38'. Theguard .is adjusted vertically and. clamped by a screw 39.

- When the material to be cut comprises but a few layers the guard ma beused as shown in Fig. 1. That is the lower foot is adjusted to theproper height and the material is guided between the foot and the base.If it is desired to sharpen the knife or for other reasons the lowerfoot may be swung.

'osition shown in dotted lines. When the fbot is again swung down toguard the knife it is not necessary to readjust it. I

' If the material to be cut comprises many s rin bears a ainst ashoulder 41 on the P e g upper stem to prevent the lower stem fromfalling. From this it will be'clear, that this guard admits of wideadjustment in an easy manner, that it may be set for two thicknesses ofmaterial at once, as for instance, when the difference in thicknessbetween the two layers of material equals the difference in heightbetween'the two guard feet, also, that the guard foot when once it isset, may

be swung away from the knife and back without disturbing the adjustment.Fi-

nally the guard may be removed altogether by loosening the screw 39.

During the operation of machines of this characterit becomes, necessaryto sharpen the knife frequently. Consequently the sharpening means mustbe so arranged that they may be quickly applied and as quickly removedfrom'contact with the knife. To accomplish these objects the followingmeans are provided.

542 denote abrasive wheels mounted on shafts 43 secured in a bracket 44and driven in opposite directions by the gears 45 fast on said shafts.The bracket 44 is carried by a two p'. arm 46 pivoted on' a stud 47 fastin the frame of the machine as shown in Fig. 2. On the said stud isfurther mounted a sleeve 48 which is capable of a limited rotarymovement on the stud, the said movement being limited by a pin 49 fastin the stud, as will be further explained. In the outer end of the saidsleeve there is journaled a short shaft 50- carrying a friction drivewheel 51 adapted to be rotated by contact withthe armature disk 12aforesaid. Between this wheel and the one abrasive wheel shaft 43 isinterposed a flexible shaft 52, so that when the wheel 51 contacts withthe disk 12.and the motor is running the abrasive wheels are rotated.

WVhen the knife is sharpened the wheels 42 are swung upward as shown inFig. 1 so as to ermit the guard to be moved down into p ace. As theabrasive wheels move up, the friction wheel 51 is moved down away fromthe disk 12 until the end-of a slot 52 in the sleeve 48 abuts the pin49. A second slot 53 in said sleeve permits movement of the sleeve inthe opposite'direction, to the right in Fig. 5, to the left in Fig. 1.The movement of the friction wheel in opposite direction to the movementof the abrasive wheels is caused by the flexible shaft 52 The end casing14 is cut away as at 54 to permit the friction Wheel to be moved intoand out of contact with the disk 12. A spring catch 55 serves to keepthe arm 46 up. nother spring 56 is wound around the hub of the arm 46and the free end of the spring bears against the casing 12 so as toexert a pressure tending to keep the wheels 42 in contact with the knifewhile the latter is being sharpened. The abrasive wheels are kepttogether by a spring 57 which pinches the lower ends of the shafts 43 soas to take up wear on the wheels. To permit this spring to act the saidshafts 43 are mounted somewhat loose in the bracket 44 to admit of aslight play. This is indicated at 58 in Fig. 1 in dotted lines.

From this it will be seen that the sharpening means are very simple andare quickly put into use and driven by friction from the motor. Also theabrasive wheels may be adjusted vertically by the screw 59 so as tosharpen all of that part of the knife which does the cutting.

-The above is thought to fully illustrate and describe this invention,its construction and operation. It will be observed that this particularform of guard is applicable to straight knife machines only, but thatsome of the other novel features described may be applied to rotaryknife machines also. The means described are susceptible of many changesand I claim all such changes and variations as come within thelegitimate and intended scope of the claims.

I claim 1. The combination of a knife, a motor for operating the same,an armature shaft in said motor, end casings for the motor, ball racesfitted in said end casings, large grooved disks secured to the extremeends of the said armature shaft and balls confined between the said ballraces and the said grooved disks.

2. The combination of a. knife, a motor for operating the same, endcasings for said motor, sharpening wheels for said knife, a frictionwheel for driving the said sharpening wheels from the said motor and anopening formed in the one end casing for permitting the said frictionwheel to be moved into and out of cont-act with the said motor.

3. The combination of a knife, a motor for driving the same, abrasivewheels for sharpening the said knife and means for exerting a pressureon said wheels in two different directions, one pressure being exertedin a direction parallel to the plane of the knife, the other pressurebeing exerted at right angle to the plane of the knife.

4. The combination of a knife, a motor for operating the same, abrasivewheels, mechanism for moving the same into and out of contact with thesaid knife, a friction wheel adapted to contact with the said ment ofthe said friction wheel independentof the movement of the said abrasivewheels.

5. The combination .of a knife, a motor, an eccentric fast on thearmature shaft of the said motor, a strap carried by the said eccentric,a pitman for operating said knife from the said motor, the said pitmanbeing pivoted to the said strap at right angles to the aXis of the saidarmature shaft.

6. The combination of a knife, a motor, a circular strap rotated by thesaid motor, a pitman for operating the said knife from the motor, theone end of said pitman being connected to the knife, the other end ofthe pitman being pivoted to the said strap, the axis of the said pivotbeing at right-angle to the plane of the said knife.

7. The combination of a knife, a motor for operating the same, ancupperand a.

lower guard foot for said knife and means for moving the lower ard foottoward and away from the knife 8; The combination of a knife, a motorfor operating the same, an upper and a lower guard foot for the knifeand means for moving the lower guard foot toward and away from the knifewithout disturbing the position of the upper guard foot.

9. The combination ofia knife, a motor for driving the same, a guardcomprising an-upper stem, a lower stem hinged to the upper one, a springon said lower stem for holding the latter in two diiferent'positionswith relation to the upper stem and a guard' foot secured to each of thesaid stems.

10. The combination of a knife, a motor for driving the same, a guardfor said knife containing an upper and a lower guard foot, each guardfoot comprising lips adapted to envelop the said knife, a fingerextending in opposite direction to the said lips and a cut away portionformed between the said lips and the saidfinger to enable the operatorto observe the cutting marks on the ma terial to be cut by the saidknife.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 30 day of March 1910.

EDWARD M. WARING. Witnesses:

IVAN Komesnnne, K. G. 1 mm);

